


You Remind Me

by IraBragi



Category: Leverage
Genre: Case Fic, F/M, Gen, Song Lyrics, Song fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 14:25:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5747812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IraBragi/pseuds/IraBragi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post series, Nate and Sophie become involved with a case and Nate finds a way to tell Sophie what she means to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Remind Me

                                                                      You Remind Me

     It had been six months since Nate and Sophie said their goodbyes to Parker, Hardison, and Eliot and walked out the door to their new future (and then walked back in to get their stuff and overheard Parker asking if “till my dieing day” meant that they were all married now and could they have married people sex in that case?)  
     For the first month they were blissfully happy not leaving the apartment in Brussels that one of Sophie's old aliases owned. They spent the second month loudly reminded each other how happy they were being retired. In the middle of the third month Sophie threw up her hands in exasperation,  
     “Oh Bloody hell! Maybe just a small case?”  
     It took a while for them to get the hang of working by themselves. The cons were smaller and they took more work. They didn't try to solve all the wrongs of the world and they took longer breaks between cases but every so often they found something that needed to be put right that no one else would fix – so they would.  
Peter Wallis was a friend of one of Sophie's acting students. He was man with lost dreams and wasted hope written on his weathered face. He had been “trying to make it” in the music business for the past 40 years.  
     “He told me that my song was good and he was my last chance to be heard, to make it. Of course I said yes. I didn't even understand half of the papers he had me sign but Purless kept assuring me that it was all routine. Now my song is on the radio under someone else's name and I'm out in the cold.”  
     Marten Purless preyed on people who had spent their lives being “two feet from stardom.” Singers and song writers who thought their day had come only to find that they no longer owned the rights to their work. His weapons of choice were legal loopholes and his personal body guards/thugs.  
     The plan was simple enough – Nate would pose as down-and-out singer. Once he had the man's attention he would “let slip” that he had a song he was trying to get recorded. They would double cross Purless and hopefully get not only the rights to Peter Wallis' song back but also make sure that the IRS was very interested in the books for Purless's studio and bar. But all this hinged on Nate making a big impression on Purless at the weekly open mic/karaoke night at the bar.  
     Nate had already had several drinks (“I'm supposed to look like a drunk Sophie” he reminded her “I'm sure that is a very hard sell for you” she shot back) and was acting more intoxicated that he actually was when he climbed on the stage. He quietly told the DJ what song he wanted to sing and took a deep breath.

Never made it as a wise man  
I couldn't cut it as  
A poor man stealing  
Tired of living like a blind man  
I'm sick of sight without  
A sense of feeling

His voice found the correct notes and he raised his eyes to meet Sophie's.

And this is how you remind me

Her eyes widened as he held her gaze. She was so beautiful. Somehow he could look away from her for a moment and when he looked back it would still surprise him all over again how much he loved her.

This is how you remind me  
Of what I really am  
This is how you remind me  
Of what I really am

He had picked this song because it was easy enough to sing but every time he practiced in the shower it sounded flat and off. Sophie lectured him on “finding the heard of his artistic passion” but his singing just got worse until he actually listened to the words.

It's not like me to say sorry  
you were waiting on a different story  
This time I'm mistaken  
For handing you  
A heart worth breaking  
And I've been wrong  
I've been down  
Into the bottom of every bottle  
These five words in my head  
Scream  
Are we having fun yet?

He thought about Sophie. How she had been there for him as an honest drunk and as a sober thief and now as a semi-retired whatever he was.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no no  
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no no  
It's not like you didn't know that  
I said I love you and  
I swear I still do  
And it must have been so bad  
Cause living with me must have  
Damn near killed you

He remembered all the times he had messed up. All the times he was too drunk to get out of bed let alone take responsibility for the lives of his crew – his family. He had been arrogant, thought he could play god and more often than not it was no thanks to him that no one got hurt.

And this is how you remind me  
Of what I really am  
This is how you remind me  
Of what I really am

He remembered about all the times Sophie reminded him that he was more than the booze, more than his anger, more than his past.

It's not like me to say sorry  
you were waiting on a different story  
This time I'm mistaken  
For handing you  
A heart worth breaking  
And I've been wrong  
I've been down  
Into the bottom of every bottle  
These five words in my head  
Scream  
Are we having fun yet?

Mic still clutched in his hand, he took a step closer to her. He forgot to think about singing. He forgot about the con. He simply let the words say what they both knew was true.

Never made it as a wise man

He though of of arrogant bastard he had been five years ago who though he was so much better than the criminals he was working with.

I couldn't cut it as  
A poor man stealing

He remembered the out of control drunk he turned into. Thinking that he could work and drink away the hole life had torn out of him.

And this is how you remind me  
This is how you remind me  
This is how you remind me  
Of what I really am  
This is how you remind me  
Of what I really am

     He though about who he was today. He had a family, a woman who he loved more and more each day, and for the first time he thought he liked who he was becoming. The song finished but he stayed locked in the moment looking deep into Sophie's eyes. There were tears on both of their cheeks.  
It took several seconds for him to realize that everyone in the bar was clapping.

     The rest of the con went off without a hitch. Purless got what he deserved and their client got his song back.  
Nate and Sophie didn't talk about it again but something settled between them. They had seen each other at their worst and they had done what it took to crawl back out of those dark places. Now they would turn that effort to building a brighter future. For the first time that he could remember Nate was not afraid to think about what that future might hold.

**Author's Note:**

> The song Nate sings is "You Remind Me" by Nickelback. I edited a few of the words to make it fit better with the story. I do not own the characters, the song, or anything else. Hope you enjoy.


End file.
